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Action of 6 December 1941
|combatant2= |commander1= Unknown |commander2= Captain Gricenko |strength1=2 submarine chasers supported by aircraft |strength2=1 submarine |casualties1=None |casualties2=1 submarine sunk 38 killed }} The Action of 6 December 1941 was a confrontation between the Bulgarian and Soviet navies in the Black Sea during World War II, taking place near the Bulgarian coast at Cape Emine. Background When the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union commenced in June 1941, Bulgaria did not declare war on the Soviet Union, nor did it make any contribution to the land invasion. The country however did offer naval support to the Axis, allowing Axis warships to use Bulgarian portsHayward, Joel S. A. Stopped at Stalingrad: The Luftwaffe and Hitler's Defeat in the East, 1942–1943, University Press of Kansas, 1998 and even used three of its torpedo boats (including ''Drazki'') to escort Romanian warships as they laid mines along the Bulgarian coast in October 1941,Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, World War II Sea War, Volume 4: Germany Sends Russia to the Allies, p. 323 these actions making the Bulgarian coast a target for the Soviet Black Sea Fleet. The engagement type.Navypedia: BELOMORETS submarine chasers (1917-1918/1921)]] On 1 December 1941, several Soviet submarines, including the ''Shchuka''-class Shch-204 (Captain Gricenko), were sent on a patrol along the Axis coastline. On 6 December, Shch-204 was spotted near Cape Emine, 20 miles off Varna, by Bulgarian Arado Ar 196 aircraft. The Bulgarian submarine chasers Belomorets and Chernomorets soon arrived at the scene and together with the aircraft attacked the Soviet submarine with depth charges, soon sinking her with all hands (Shchuka-class submarines had a crew of 38).Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, World War II Sea War, Volume 5: Air Raid Pearl Harbor. This Is Not a Drill, p. 63Antony Preston, Warship 2001–2002, p. 88Mikhail Monakov, Jurgen Rohwer, Stalin's Ocean-going Fleet: Soviet Naval Strategy and Shipbuilding Programs 1935–1953, p. 265 Aftermath The result of this engagement was the most significant Bulgarian naval victory of the Second World War, and Shch-204 was the only Allied submarine sunk by the Bulgarian Navy. Through this victory, the Bulgarian Navy demonstrated its availability and capability of working together with its German and Romanian counterparts in the Black Sea for the defence of Axis coastlines and convoys.Antony Preston, Warship 2001–2002, p. 88 Alternate Account Not-Bulgarian sources describe the loss of ShCh-204 due mine occurred the same day (6 December 1941). https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/5035.html ShCh-204 on uboat.net According the Russian author M.Morozov the submarine chasers were located in Burges at the time of the attack, for work on engines, an alternate version of sinking due Romanian mine is also dismissed. Russian sources blame the loss to a German He-59 seaplane or to the Bulgarian seaplane Ar-196. http://www.sovboat.ru/ship/h204.php3ShCh-204 on sovboat.ru References External links *[http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?149651 Shch-204 on wrecksite.eu] Category:Naval battles involving Bulgaria Category:Naval battles of World War II involving the Soviet Union Category:Conflicts in 1941 Category:Naval battles and operations of the European theatre of World War II Category:Military history of Bulgaria during World War II Category:Military history of the Soviet Union during World War II Category:Military history of the Black Sea